Our national team understands that a negligence claim against a professional requires sensitive and careful handling given the significant reputational risks involved. Our experienced team of professional indemnity lawyers work closely with our client from the moment we are instructed to gain an understanding of their views on the claim, as well as the commercial considerations in play so that we can form a strategy that leads to a good outcome for our client and their insurer.
Our lawyers are experts in the professional services sectors in which they operate, allowing them to quickly identify the most pragmatic and commercial solutions to claims.
For over 35 years we have acted for insurers and indemnifiers of a wide range of professions. Our claims defence expertise includes acting on behalf of traditional professionals, including solicitors, accountants, surveyors, architects, construction professionals, insurance brokers and other financial services professionals. We also have significant expertise in representing IT professionals, management consultants, recruitment agencies, health and safety professionals and agronomists.
In addition to our claims defence work, the team regularly advises clients on institute ‘minimum terms’, coverage and indemnity disputes, policy drafting, fraud and dishonesty investigations, and professional disciplinary enquiries. The team uses its specialist experience to inform the value-added risk management support we provide to our professional clients and to professional indemnity underwriters.
Our clients regard us as an extension of their own team; whether we are working with insurers on innovative new products, building bespoke delegated authority claims handling solutions, helping insurers win new business by attending risk presentations, or working with claims teams in mapping exposure to high value liabilities across entire books of business.
Advising a global insurance intermediary on its largest ever professional negligence claim. Working in collaboration with the client’s in-house team and reporting to the board, achieving a favourable early resolution.
Successfully defended a firm of solicitors against a multi-million-pound loss of chance claim arising out of its allegedly negligent handling of a corporate transaction on behalf of the claimant.
The team successfully defended a claim for discrimination brought by a prospective tenant under the Equality Act against an estate and letting agent.
Acting for a bank and its insurer, we achieved a very favourable early resolution of a £10m+ claim relating to allegedly negligent interest rate hedging product advice.
"What makes this practice stand out for us is the level of service we receive and the level of trust that we can place our work and it will be carried out to the very best standard. They really understand our business and continue to offer outstanding support."
"A firm that can go toe-to-toe with the best of the magic circle in insurance and prof neg matters. Expertise on the law runs through all levels, and the collaborative nature of the partnership and teams means that particularly on the larger cases, one gets excellent service across the board, with a sound strategy."
"An impressed client says: "The whole team is extremely competent and they are my favourite team to work with…”
Settlement agreements are commonplace in an employment context and are ordinarily used to provide the parties to the agreement with certainty following the conclusion of an employment relationship.
Claims arising from interest-only mortgages have been farmed in volume. Many such claims to date have sought to drive a narrative that interest-only mortgages are an inherently toxic product and brokers were negligent simply for suggesting them. Taylor is a helpful recalibration, focussing instead on what the monies raised by the mortgage product were being used for and whether the client understood the inherent risks.
In a judgment handed down yesterday the Supreme Court has affirmed that a so called “creditor duty” exists for directors such that in some circumstances company directors are required to act in accordance with, or to consider the interests of creditors. Those circumstances potentially arise when a company is insolvent or where there is a “probability” of an insolvency. We explore below the “trigger” for such a test to apply and its implications.
Created at the end of the Brexit transition period, Retained EU Law is a category of domestic law that consists of EU-derived legislation retained in our domestic legal framework by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This was never intended to be a permanent arrangement as parliament promised to deal with retained EU law through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (the “Bill”).
Practice Direction 57AC (“PD57AC”) relates to witness evidence in trials and explicitly applies only to the Business and Property Courts. It applies to existing proceedings in which the witness statements for trial are signed on or after 6 April 2021.
The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the BTI v Sequana appeal and reviewed the existence, content and engagement of the so-called ‘creditor duty’; being the point at which the interest of creditors is said to intrude upon the decision-making of directors of companies in financial distress.
The increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the way businesses operate and is having a disruptive impact in sectors that have traditionally been slow to modernise.
In November 2021, The Civil Justice Council’s published its interim report on proposed changes to the current Pre-Action Protocols, which included a mandatory Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) gateway. In this article, we look at proposed reforms and consider what this could mean for your case.
Janice Walsh applied for a job with Domino’s Pizza, hoping to secure a role as a Delivery Driver. However things quickly took a turn for the worse during her initial interview, with the very first question that she was asked relating to her age. Ms Walsh was ultimately informed that she had not been successful in her application.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed two cases regarding rent arrears accrued during the Covid lockdowns. The cases are London Trocadero (2015) LLP v Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd and Bank of New York Mellon (International) Ltd v Cine-UK Ltd.
In the recent case of Dwyer (UK Franchising) Limited v Fredbar Limited and ano’r [2022] EWCA Civ 889, the Court of Appeal considered the reasonableness of restrictive covenants in a franchise agreement.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision in the case of Warburton v The Chief Constable.
Restrictive covenants are widely recognised as a complex area of employment law that is of key importance to many organisations. However more recently, they have become a hot topic with the Government launching their consultation.
In Nissan v Passi, the High Court recently considered the issue of an employee retaining confidential documents belonging to his former employer in the context of the employer’s application for an injunction seeking the return of such documents from the employee.
We regularly encounter disputes relating to Service Level Agreement provisions - here we provide four top tips that you can use to minimise disputes.
As a developing area, key stakeholders in this space such as insurers, and technology and software developers looking to become ASDEs or NUIC operators, should keep a keen eye on whether the Government proceeds with introducing new legislation in line with the report’s recommendations.
The Highway Code has had its first major revision since 2007. Amongst several changes, a new hierarchy has been created, with road users who are most likely to cause harm having the greatest responsibility to reduce the threat they may pose to other road users (rule 204 of the Code).
We were delighted to be joined by Dr Nigel Sturrock, Regional Medical Director for the Midlands at NHS England and NHS Improvement. He gave an overview of the pressures placed on the NHS by the pandemic, including the impact on urgent and emergency care, elective procedures and staffing.
Schools will need to comply with the requirements of the PAPDC or potentially face financial consequences. This article provides an overview of the PAPDC and explains how it applies to schools.
Following on from our recent article on the release of the updated Code of Practice for dealing with commercial rent arrears that have accrued throughout the pandemic, we continue to highlight what the overall principles seek to ensure - fairness and proportionality for both landlords and tenants across each step of the arbitration process.
The Supreme Court has unanimously overturned the Court of Appeal’s 2019 decision in the case Lloyd (Respondent) v Google LLC (Appellant) which allowed the claimant, Mr Lloyd, to serve a representative action on Google on behalf of over four million iPhone users who were seeking damages for ‘loss of control’ of personal data.
It is an unfortunate reality that many local authorities face historical abuse claims, and often held vicariously liable for abuse by their former employees. We set out an overview of recoveries law and insight into successes we have had in recouping money for local authorities.
